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Archer (Final Fantasy XII)
Archer is a License Board in the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII. It is represented by the zodiac sign of Sagittarius. It is a quick ranged class, using bows and arrows as its primary weapon and wearing light armor. The Archer has access to 127 licenses, which require 7,241 LP to unlock, as well as up to 12 additional licenses through summon licenses costing 780 LP, and 1 additional license costing 30 LP through Quickening licenses. The License Board for the Archer class is shaped like a bow and arrow. Profile Archer has limited magickal ability, only able to use a tiny bit of White Magick. It has the most technicks and is the only class to possess all three Phoenix Down augments, meaning that it can fully resurrect the party in seconds. It also has access to all three Potion Lores. The player being able to choose their arrows makes the Archer versatile, as status and elemental properties can be easily changed on-the-fly without sacrificing much fire power. The Archer's Speed stat affects bows' damage, and thus equipping Germinas Boots is great for boosting damage potential. However, bows' accuracy is penalized by 20% in certain weather conditions. Archer cannot learn Adrenaline and has few means to augment attack and magick powers. It will deal less damage than melee jobs outside of specialized situations. Bows never deal combo hits, but they can do critical damage, and thus Archer is just as good at full HP as in low health (melee jobs deal multiple combo hits when in critical health, meaning one needs to keep them near death to maximize DPS potential). Combined with its range, Archer is great against regular enemies (especially with the Assassin's Arrows that have an innate Instant Death effect), also hitting flying targets that many melee classes can't hit. In The Zodiac Age version, the player can use two License Boards for each party member. One combination is to pair Archer with Red Battlemage that allows them to use the fire-boosting Burning Bow to enhance the Red Battlemage's ultimate spell, Ardor, particularly on oiled enemies. Red Battlemage also gets the medium tier heavy armor, healing and Black and Arcade Magicks. Getting Exodus for Red Battlemage can open up Heavy Armor 8, 9 and 10 for itself, but also Heavy Armor 10, 11 and 12 for the Archer without needing Shemhazai (and vice versa), since 10 is activated on the Archer's board. The player could also couple Archer with Knight or Uhlan that benefit from Archer's Swiftness licenses and ranged weapons, while Archer's arrows benefit more from the Strength points from their Battle Lores than its own Speed. Combining Archer with Foebreaker allows the character to tank and use Break abilities, and gains HP licenses and heavy armor. Combining Archer with a job that gives Adrenaline lets the player see the Archer's true damage potential, as even though Adrenaline is also added by the Steel Gorget, this would prevent the Archer from equipping Germinas Boots. Because Archer can't deal combo hits it still doesn't benefit as much from being in critical health as the jobs that can. Time Battlemage also gives heavy armor and Battle Lores, and bows tend to be an upgrade to the Time Battlemage's native crossbow later in the game. Coupling Archer with Black Mage can also be good, allowing the character three Swiftness licenses and access to all HP bonuses without Famfrit on either board. Burning Bow would still allow the character to cast a powered up Firaga, and gives decent physical damage, all in the same weapon. Shemhazai also unlocks four heavy armor licenses between the boards. Black Mage-Archer nets all Item Lores for everything, and the Archer's Cura can be as good for healing as a White Mage thanks to Black Mage's mystic armor and Magick Lores. Many jobs can give Archer access to the 1000 Needles Technick by virtue of having Infuse, which is next to 1000 Needles on the Archer's board. Shikari does the reverse; it has 1000 Needles, and thus gives Archer Infuse. License Board License list Equipment Magick Technicks Augments Espers and Quickenings Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy XII